12 times 12
by keacdragon
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him. Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

* * *

** One**

**TARDIS+Auto-Pilot=Big Problem  
**

xxx

Amy lounged in one of the yellow chairs while the Doctor fumbled with wires connecting something to something else beneath the console. Rory had gone searching for something to snack on ten minutes ago, and had yet to find the kitchen, the TARDIS must have moved it again.

Speaking of the "bigger on the inside" phone box, it had been humming steadily for several moments, and had yet to hiss or anything like it usually did when the Doctor was messing with something.

Then the lights went out.

"Oi! Doctor! I can't see!"

The time lord chuckled as he came back from underneath the console to beside, flipping a couple switches to get the lights back on and finding Rory stumbling down the stairs.

"Sorry, old girl hates when I tweak the belts..."

Amy laughed at Rory's face, motioning for him to sit near her as the Doctor went back to connecting wires.

Then the TARDIS burst into life.

"Uh...Doctor? Why is the TARDIS coordinating it-herself?"

That got his attention, Amy had seen the Doctor move fast before, but when he just about reappeared next to her in a second she squeaked.

The Doctor rushed around the console, sliding to a stop directly opposite the monitor and beginning to rapidly move over the controls.

"C'mon girl! Stop this and give me back control!"

The TARDIS apparently wasn't liking that idea, and began to move faster, making it hard to stand as Amy struggled to the type writer when the Doctor yelled for her help.

"Type stop-cease-shut down-no more-enough...anything to get this thing to stop!"

While the scot began to type, the TARDIS lurched to one side, sending Rory flying to the monitor and the Doctor sliding into the railing.

"Where are we going?"

The time lord growled faintly as he slowly stood up, leaning against the console as he tried to apply the brakes, "I...don't...know...Rory, what's the coordinates?"

The Nurse had to fiddle with the monitor to show the coordinates, the location rapidly approaching.

"Uh...six...no...seven hundred years before our time...coordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2, ETA uh...three minutes and counting."

"No!"

The Doctor rushed over to the monitor, yelling in another language at the readings and the TARDIS, he must have been swearing since his face was getting red as his actions grew frantic to get the ship to stop moving.

"No! No! No-No-No! Stop! Please! No!"

The TARDIS didn't seem to hear, the noise only died down after the phone box landed smoothly, the humming ceasing within a few seconds of the Doctor screaming in rage and punching the monitor, only earning himself a sore fist.

Amy quickly moved away from him as he sat in one of the chairs, head to his knees as he moaned, muttering under his breath with his hands tangled in his hair.

"Amy? Where are we?"

The red head went to the window, eyes widening as she saw the silver trees and fire lit sky.

"Gallifrey."

xxx

xx

xxx

It was two hours before someone on the outside the ship had come to investigate, the entire time the Doctor hadn't moved from the chair, not even when someone began picking the lock on the door.

"Uh Doctor? A little help?"

The time lord didn't move, not even when the door creaked open and a head cautiously peeked in.

"_Hello?_"

The speaker was female, dark brown hair pulled back with tiny braids laced between her hair and pulled back into a bun. Her dress reminded the Ponds of a kimono with shoulder sleeves over an under dress, dark blue and green.

Her skin was light tan as she stepped inside slowly, eyes never leaving the Ponds.

"_Hello?_ Oh...Hello!"

Amy smiled, "Hi, I'm Amy. And this is my husband Rory."

The lady smiled, "I'm Salla, I'm sorry for intruding, but the family here grew concerned when you landed and did not exit, is the lock not functioning?"

"Uh...no but...uh..."

Salla quickly glanced around the TARDIS with what looked like careful precision, and then her eyes fell on the Doctor."

"Hello? Are you alright?"

The humans let her step closer, her actions almost hesitant until she gently placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, making him jump to his feet and lunge away from her."

"Sir? What is wrong?"

"Inmo...Inmo...Vos, non potestis...non ego...egrediar!"

Salla flinched but glared back heatedly as the Doctor backed away from her around the console until he stood in front of the Ponds, Salla only a few steps away.

"Quid est iniuriam? Tu...est..._You are a Time Lord! You are just in time! Haha! 'on time' You've arrived for the festival! Well don't wait in here, come! To the city! Cadon Astu is only a short rail away! Come!_"

The Doctor was shaking his head, constantly saying 'No' over and over in an attempt to get the lady to stop speaking.

Salla quit her rambling as the Doctor pressed his hands over his ears, a faint whine coming from his throat.

"Time Lord? What is wrong? Why will you not look at me?"

The Doctor shuddered as Salla rested her hands on his shoulders, gently guiding him to straighten and look at her.

"_You have no idea how I did not want to come back here._.." He murmured, eyes downcast as Salla frowned.

"_You are a Time Lord, yet not the original...or even close are you? You have come back to Gallifrey...what you must have seen to keep you from your home_..." Salla sighed before taking one of the Doctor's hand, clasping his wrist while her other fist rested over the center of her chest in between her two hearts, the Doctor mimicked her after a moment, bowing his head slightly to her.

"_My home is in the vortex in my time...Gallifrey was only a memory._.." The Doctor replied, and Salla nodded grimly before smiling when the Doctor relaxed his stance.

"I'm sorry for what you must have seen, but you will not be able to leave until after the festival, the skies have been locked and the time has stopped."

The Doctor sighed heavily but nodded, glaring at the TARDIS console before turning to the Ponds, "Okay I promised a planet and here's one...knock yourselves out..."

Amy was already following Salla, her endless questions amusing the Gallifreyan, Rory turned to stop the Doctor from heading deeper into the phone box.

"Aren't you coming Doctor?"

Salla froze, turning and locking her storm gray eyes with the Doctor's bright blue ones, "Please come, the year of the Madevninia Aridosa is nigh, the festival starts in mere hours."

At the date the Doctor's slight welcoming mood vanished, Salla didn't see it, she had already turned to lead them away, to give the Doctor a moment, Rory followed her asking about the festival while Amy looped her arm with quickly becoming distraught Doctor.

"Hey...what's wrong?"

"This festival is last one Gallifrey will ever see...There is going to be an attack on the last day at each mountain and the Citadel, and there is _nothing_ I can do about it." The Time Lord replied softly, leaning a little more on Amy than he normally would have if explaining something serious.

Amy sighed, gently squeezing the man's upper arm in support, "Will we run into...another you...while we're here."

"No, every time I somehow end up back here, it's in a different location...never see the same city burn twice..."

The red head could only hum slightly as they exited the TARDIS, locking the door tight before following Salla. Amy gasped as she looked around, smiling at the red grass beneath her feet and the silver trees lining the station for the rails.

Bright blue and purple flutterwings were floating over the foliage, suddenly skittering into the air and whistling softly whenever someone drew too close.

Salla had walked further ahead, not noticing the humans had stopped to look around until Amy squealed when a trunkike fluttered from the grass and startled her, the bird beginning to chirp rapidly as if laughing at the lady.

The native Gallifreyan laughed, leaning against a tree as the green bird stole a hair pin from Amy's hair, releasing the red locks down her back in a mess.

"Oi! Give that back!"

Her husband began to help her chase the bird, the trunkike luckily only staying just a foot of so out of their reach and moving in rapid circles within the immediate area, the birds were known to take off and disappear.

The Time Lord merely stood with his hands in his pockets watched the humans and refusing to let his eyes look around at his home, this is what drew Salla to hum slightly to the tree she leaned against.

A sleek tabby cat leapt from the upper branches, mewing softly before hearing the chattering of the wayward trunkike.

And off she went...

With a short sprint and a leap the cat had caught the bird, causing it to drop the hair pin before freeing itself with a screech, scolding the cat before flying away.

The cat merely began to yowl as she paced back to Salla, rubbing against her legs.

Amy couldn't stop giggling as the Doctor took her arm again, "Salla, might want to walk faster, the rail arrives in two minutes."

xxx

The rail was like a train, only it went much faster but still allowed you to watch out the windows, Amy had grabbed a window seat, the Doctor sitting next to her while Rory and Salla sat across from them.

"Oh my god...Rory! Look-look! Oh wow!"

Salla was smiling, pleased she'd been able to make Amy's day, the Doctor was avoiding the window if he could, only glancing up from his hands when Amy asked a question.

The ride only lasted a few minutes, and then the city loomed up suddenly before surrounding them. That made Amy quiet as she stared at the sky reaching buildings on their super thin columns that supported hundreds of feet of buildings.

"Amy, Rory." For once the Doctor was truly addressing them.

He sighed a little before standing and shoving the window open, letting music and the smell of food in, faint laughs and chattering drifting in as well.

"Welcome to Gallifrey."

* * *

**There will two or three parts to this, do you like it?**

**Review please!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

* * *

** Two**

**The Doctor+Gallifrey=Festival Time!  
**

xxx

Salla stood as the speakers on the rail announced there would be a fifteen minute docking period before the transport moved again.

The Doctor pulled out a handful of color-tinted clear disks, looking like slightly over-sized casino chips before handing a green tinted one to the lady. "Salla, here's a credit disk, mind getting it activated for me?"

"Of Course, be right back."

Amy turned to watch her leave before facing the Doctor as he watched out the window, "Doctor? What's a credit disk?"

"Ah...kinda like an earth gift card you could say...each is worth so much-well on Gallifrey it's credits, the currency used here-the system resets every night and renders any card off the planet dormant, meaning you have to reactivate them to use it. In this case, we can't get off without one, you pay the rail fare as you get off."

Amy nodded, a little hesitant to use the Doctor's money until Rory was holding one to examine it, faintly inscribed on the gold tinted disk was a rather large number, the Doctor found her focus and smirked a little.

"Don't worry Amy, Gallifrey has a flexible exchange rate with numerous planets and moons, I've collected so many of these bloody disks over the years that it won't hurt to use them up a bit."

The red head smiled, standing when Salla returned, the disk now glowing at the center, "You're good to go, I hope you enjoy the festival...oh! And I recommend the Crystal Suites if you need somewhere to stay, they're my favorite."

The Doctor nodding to the lady, giving a bit of a bow as she dipped as well before weaving further through the rail to find a new seat, the Time Lord led his companions off the rail, sliding the disk through a slot and tapping in the number of fares.

The 'conductor' tipped his head, smiling pleasantly and even helping Amy down the steps before waving at the driver as the rail hummed to life.

"Come along Ponds, if you end up too close to the rails when that gets moving you'll be in all sorts of troubles." The Doctor called as he strolled away, heading towards a building covered in plants that were actually green.

Amy raced after him, easily ducking in between other Gallifreyans, Rory on the other hand ran right into a couple.

The Doctor froze, watching as the human politely apologized and helped the two up, gathering the lady's parcels and tucking them back in her bag and handing it to her.

The lady laughed, "Finally! Another human! It gets so dreadful being here alone...what's your name dear?"

"Rory Williams."

She laughed again, "Well, if you need someone a bit more normal to talk to, look me up, Ellen Hartly, I live just up this rail line at the Market Center."

Rory nodded, smiling as the man, who must have been Gallifreyan gently led Ellen away, smiling to Rory without speaking.

The Doctor watched him carefully as he caught up with them, "Careful Rory, the next person you knock over might just be someone a little more important, and with a shorter temper."

xxx

The building covered in plants was a cafe, the tables were tall, small, and round with high stools around them, the Doctor grabbed one that was empty, taking off his tweed jacket and draping it over the back of his seat.

"You two stay here, and I really mean _stay_."

Amy nodded and winked as she took her seat, fingers gently brushing the edges of a fiery colored flower in the centerpiece.

The Doctor slapped her hand away, "Don't touch that, they bite."

As if on cue the flower lunged, snapping irritably and provoking a fish in the vase to come to the surface, it looked more like an otter than a fish except for the scales, and it cooed softly.

"Ah, a babblefish, those you can pet and play with, but don't touch the flowers."

Amy was already humming to the light blue and green creature, stroking its head as it purred.

After several minutes of Amy convincing Rory to pet the babblefish, the Doctor returned with a tray loaded with what could be considered snack foods, and a glass of slightly bubbling liquid for each of them.

"Go on, try it!"

They each took a sip, and Amy almost choked, "Sprite? On another planet?"

Rory looked at her funny, "No it's not, it's Root Beer."

"You're both wrong, it's Diet Coke."

The two glanced to the the Doctor, "I'm kidding, the drinks adapt their tastes to that which the drinker prefers, this is the carbonated version, some are like tea...some coffee...others juices...mildly amusing actually."

"Does a type do the same with alcohol?" Rory asked as the Doctor took a drink of his own, the time lord spluttered, coughing heavily before looking at the human a bit astonished before recovering.

"No, none of them do that...anything similar to alcohol hear is just like earth, one name-one flavor or taste or whatever...and you two are not to go experimenting with those without me, some of them could kill you."

That calmed Rory down but he still looked eager to try something, at that the Doctor handed them each a dish of what appeared to be french bread in little loaves the size of a chip, only fluffier.

"Aridian flour rolls, dip them in the different sauces and what not and you have a rather delicious snack."

Amy stabbed her fork into a piece and examined the sauce dishes, "Not going to tell us what the different dips are?"

The Doctor smirked before dipping a piece into a creamy white sauce that mimicked clam chowder in appearance, "Not just yet, want to see what you pick first."

Since the alien easily consumed the creamy sauce, both humans tried it, Amy humming in delight when it tasted like Vanilla and Cinnamon. Rory went on to try the adjacent bowl, and found a mild salsa dip.

The time lord snacked silently as the two experimented, both trying a sauce cautiously before eating it again and deciding the flavor. At one point there was only one dip left untouched when a man behind the Doctor yelled, fanning his tongue before gulping an iced drink, his table mates laughing hysterically as he turned red in the face.

The Doctor quickly checked his slip, the last dip was the only spicy dip...the same as the man had just consumed.

And Rory had just dunked a bit of bread in it.

"Rory no!"

Now, leaping from a stool that lifted you and foot and a half off the ground was bad enough, but lunging for someone sitting in the same position was just plain stupid.

Rory and the Doctor hit the ground with an amusing thud.

...

The cafe's occupants laughed when Amy started giggling, another man helping the two to their feet while the Doctor discarded the spicy dip.

"That one was probably worse than Bhut Jolokia, the Earth world record for hottest pepper, definitely not something to try."

The Ponds nodded, both content to go back to the other flavors.

xxx

Crystal Suites was a beautiful hotel, and after a quick check in, the Doctor led them to the elevator and to their Suite. The set of rooms contained two bedrooms, a personal bath for each, a living room, and a kitchen, all fully stocked. The wardrobes in the bedrooms were locked tight, automatic materializers creating clothes for them all.

Amy was content to stare out the window as Rory explored the kitchen and the Doctor rummaged in his room, muttering softly under his breath as he did so, the red head was entranced by the buildings and transports, most hover crafts but some rolled on the streets down below.

A loud bleep alerted them to the closets unlocking and the Doctor yelled for them to get cleaned up and changed, and meet in the living room in a hour.

...

Amy smiled as the shower pulsed firmly on her shoulder, the almost lavender scented bath soap cleaning away whatever filth she'd picked up chasing that bird. Rory had already showered and was now sorting through the suddenly appeared clothes.

"Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we should match?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were something green, I wear something green..."

"Don't know."

"The two of you are supposed to!"

The last yell was the Doctor from across the Suite, his voice carrying rather well, "You're married, the matching colors shows instead of wedding rings, some wear them some don't."

Hair wrapped in a towel and a fluffy bathrobe over her body, Amy came a grabbed a satin like mahogany colored dress with a dark green sash, Rory was already holding a dark red tunic with green belt and designs.

"These will work."

xxx

The two were lounging on the couches in the living room when the Doctor appeared, his tunic ranging from dark brown to an almost cream tan in small strips over his chest and back, the black belt held the Sonic Screwdriver in a case as well as a hip bag that must hold other necessary things.

"Ready?"

...

The Doctor seemed hesitant to talk much, preferring to merely walk on Amy's other side as the trio wandered the streets, admiring the sights and the small market stalls lining both sides of the streets. Right after leaving the hotel, the Doctor had activated another handful of the credit disks, giving both Ponds two different colors, one red the other gold, in Earth terms it would have probably equaled over a thousand dollars each.

"Doctor we can't-"

"Yes you can and you will, this is my home planet so you are my guests, besides, this way if one us gets distracted the others can keep going, just no sampling drinks without me."

An agreement made they continued, Amy stopping numerous times to admire the different styles of jewelery, at one booth her lively chattering had actually been silenced by a silver head band, garnet and onyx gems set along the top. The seller and maker of the piece gently eased it into the human's red hair, showing her a mirror to admire it.

The Doctor had stood a few paces away as Amy examined the goods, Rory right beside her out of nervousness and excitement all at once. The time lord quickly noticed neither Pond was willing to spend the credits he had given them, and the faked look of uninterested buyer in Amy's face as she handed back the head band made the alien sigh.

Rory and Amy kept moving forward while the Doctor returned to the one stall, smiling to the shopkeeper as he selected his choice.

...

"Amelia!"

The Doctor ran up to the pair before holding a hand over the red-head's eyes, slipping something into her hair before she could stop him.

The onyx head band.

"Doctor..."

"Relax a little you two, have some fun."

With that statement the married couple shared a look before dragging the Doctor off to a secluded gap in the market stalls.

"We...have kind of been avoiding that..."

"Why?"

Amy bit her lip, "Because of you...you seemed so upset about being here and you know what's going to happen and we didn't want for all of us to get so happy and loving everything for it to be gone...oh that sounded terrible!"

The Doctor bowed his head before sighing heavily and hugging first Rory then Amy, "Oh you two...I _want_ you to have fun...I want _me_ to have fun...I don't want to leave this time with worse memories than the last, for once I'm not going to work myself up trying to stop everything."

Amy smiled, hugging her raggedy doctor tighter, "Alright then, why don't you show us what you consider fun, eh?"

The Doctor grinned, the one that made Rory nervous and Amy excited, "Well then...let's go."

* * *

**Tada! What do you think?**

**Please Review!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

* * *

** Three**

**Gallifrey+Daleks=Fire  
**

xxx

A festival...

More like a several days long party where if you manage to get some sleep, it's because you passed out and someone else dragged you to a bed.

At least that's what it felt like as Amy woke up in the bed of the suite.

Three days on Gallifrey and Amy couldn't be happier, or more distraught, the planet was so wonderful...

That's why the Doctor hated remembering it.

Rory was still snoring next to her, his odd hat someone had shoved on his head last night at the bar sitting askew on his hair.

Amy's head was lightly pounding, she had had more sweet food than alcohol so she was only recovering from a sugar crash. Her husband on the other hand had gotten plastered.

xxx

The nurse was still unconscious when Amy tip toed out the the living room after changing and cleaning up. The Doctor was fussing in the kitchen, fixing tea as he nodded a good morning to Amy.

"What time did we get in last night? I don't remember much after Rory got his second pink colored drink."

The Doctor chuckled, handing her a mug of tea and some jam covered toast, "More like this morning, probably only a few hours ago, my Sonic with the times of when he unlock doors rolled under the couch when we got in and my head hurts too much to bend over and get it. And that pink drink was called a Plink Plush, not sure why, it leaves you with a rather pounding head ache."

"Maybe because what you want afterward is a plush pillow."

That earned a slightly heartier chuckle and then a wince as the Doctor held his head, sitting down heavily and letting his forehead connect with the counter top.

"Aw..poor raggedy doctor..."

"Oh shut up."

xxx

Once they were all mobile they headed out again, this time to a music filled party, attendants grabbing them as soon as they were in the doors, shoving them into small tented alcoves and began to fuss over them.

Amy appeared in her light pink and purple dress, now with jingling beads on her wrists, ankles, belt, and hair as the tiny coins moved. Rory received yet another ridiculous hat, and now had a cape. The Doctor...had been changed completely, his blue tunic had been removed and he now wore a black set of long tunics, and a bow tie.

The humans laughed before the Doctor rolled his eyes, grabbing their hands and tugging them into the packed and chaotic dance floor.

...

The day and a good portion of the night flashed away with neon lights, bubbly drinks, loud-heart stopping music and wild dancing.

Amy slipped from the crowd to get some air, heaving in the cool night air before looking up at the star covered dark blue sky.

And saw ships littering the skies.

She couldn't do anything, the Doctor had mentioned that the Daleks came by ships when they first attacked Gallifrey.

They were here.

...

Rory had left the Doctor by the drinks table to find Amy, not liking the look on her face as she pulled him to the side.

"They're here...the Daleks...Rory the sky is covered in their ships..."

The nurse groaned, "What do we do...we need to tell the Doctor and get out here...the TARDIS is still half an hour away from here, if a war breaks out the rails will be shut down."

"No!" Amy quickly cleared her eyes, tipping her head back to rid them of tears, "We ignore it, let the Doctor have his one night of decent memories here, he said when the battle began all the bells started going off...one of us should listen for them and as soon they start we leave..."

Rory nodded, "You go dance with him, he'll definitely want to remember that."

Amy nodded, ducking through the crowd and finding the Doctor chatting animatedly with another man dressed similarly, only he wore black. The conversation sounded like something about the Time Vortex and the relativity of mushrooms...at least to Amy it did since about every third word was in Gallifreyan, probably because the pair were talking so fast an heatedly. Get the Doctor worked up and he slipped into different languages, mostly reverting back to his natural dialect when he was extremely upset or extremely passionate/excited.

"Well what about...no...but...Ah!"

The other man laughed loudly, slapping his thighs as he bellowed, the Doctor was smiling happily before delving back into the conversation, bringing up a knew suggestion that caught both man's attentions for several minutes.

The other gentleman noticed Amy first, shouting in shock before apologizing profusely in Gallifreyan, all of which went right over Amy's head.

"Senator, Mrs. Ponds here speaks only English, she and her husband are my human companions from Earth. Speaking of which where is Rory?"

"Off admiring the view and remembering how to breathe." Amy replied, curtsying to the Senator as he bowed and took her hand, chastely kissing her hand.

"Senator Amser, this is Amelia Pond-Williams, Amy this is an old Academy friend of mine Cadrw Amser, or his name also means Time Keeper if you prefer."

"Ohh...it's a pleasure Senator..."

Amser laughed, "I'm taken Miss Amelia, my wife is currently hosting her own party at our summer house, it is easier to deal with the numerous bureaucrats if we divide and conquer."

Amy had to smile back, earning a relaxing grin from the Doctor, the music was shifting and now there was what seemed to be a lively waltz crossed with a tango.

"Doctor? Shall we dance?"

The time lord smiled brightly, nodding before quickly turning back to the Senator, "Amser! I-"

"Oh go on my friend, enjoy your evening!"

With that the gentleman bowed to Amy, winking at the Doctor before weaving into the crowd.

"Well then...let's dance."

...

The music was neither fast nor slow, nor medium. It was an amazing mix of all three speeds, the deep bass felt in your heart (or hearts) and in your bones, while the melody carried you across the dance floor.

Here...on Gallifrey, the Doctor was an excellent dancer, many were clearing the floor to give him room as he expertly spun Amy and guided her through complex figure eights and other patterns on the floor.

Amy couldn't stop laughing, her smile lighting up the Doctor's face as he too rejoiced. Both happy and free.

The music began to slow, allowing the two to catch their breaths, shifting into a slow song to recover with the Doctor chastely with a hand on Amy's waist and hand. They stayed close, rocking in a gentle, slow circle.

And the bells began to ring.

No one noticed, the bells had been scheduled to ring at midnight to celebrate the end of the festival. That had been Gallifrey's downfall, no one had bothered to check the time.

Amy felt the Doctor tense against her, a soft sigh sliding from his lips against her neck as he hugged her and continued to dance.

"You saw the ships."

It wasn't a question, she could only nod slightly.

Another sigh.

"You should have told me."

"You deserved a night to remember."

The Doctor shuddered against her, head moving enough for her to see the tears in his eyes.

"Amy..."

"The next rail out is in two minutes, it's time to go."

For a moment it looked like the Doctor was going to argue and try to fix the situation...but it was no good, in ten other cities on Gallifrey he was already doing the same...and in each one he failed.

"Doctor."

"Let's go."

xxx

Rory met them at the rail, holding the door open as the line began to move, grabbing them as they jumped on board. The nurse had also grabbed their small bags of luggage, they held their original clothes, the Sonic, a couple trinkets, some food, and photos from an old camera Rory had found on the TARDIS weeks ago.

The Doctor didn't speak as the first bomb dropped, he didn't even acknowledge the Ponds as Amy lowered the curtain over the window and sat down across from him.

The rail ride seemed less interesting, even with other party goers chatting and singing. Some where drunk beyond belief and going home, but most were heading to another celebration to finish out the night.

Amy gently touched the Doctor's shoulder when they stopped, taking his arm once they were off the rail and walking to the TARDIS, the blue phone box still standing calmly in the field. A few flutterwings were perched on the wood, but moved sleepily when the Doctor lightly tickled their antennae.

Usual fussing over ship was forgotten, the Doctor merely moved to the console and began rapidly adjusting the controls, bringing the TARDIS to life and setting coordinates to the Time Vortex and safety.

Explosions rocked their take-off, one so close the TARDIS was hit with dirt and rocks hitting one wall. All that time the Doctor remained silent, his face unmoving as the TARDIS settled calmly into the Vortex, set for a night's rest of gentle hovering with the time/not/time swirling around it.

Amy had Rory hide their bags behind his back when the Doctor moved as if to go to bed, stopping when Amy stepped in front of him.

Neither spoke, the Doctor didn't really react to her presence until she hugged him gently, he returned it, holding on for a few minutes before pulling away, jogging up the stairs and disappearing down a corridor.

The TARDIS monitor flashed on, showing the destruction on Gallifrey, the site made the Ponds sick.

Happy Festival

* * *

**Review?**

**please?  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first is a drabble to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after the wedding.  
**

_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Guest: Thank you!**

* * *

**Four  
**

**Fire+TARDIS+Auto-Pilot=Visit to the Ponds and Family  
**

xxx Two weeks after Gallifrey

Amy and Rory were quite content in their home in Leadworth, calmly eating lunch during Rory's break from his shift.

When the familiar humming whirr echoed in the kitchen.

xxx

The TARDIS reformed in the back yard, this time avoiding any flowers or the garden shed. Only instead of the Doctor bounding out as Amy walked towards the phone box, the door clicked open to let the Ponds inside.

The time lord wasn't within the console area, in fact it was almost like the TARDIS was empty until Amy sighed with her hands on her hips.

"TARDIS? I know you can hear me, where's the Doctor?"

Soft beeping and the the monitor flicked to what could be called a security camera, positioned in the Doctor's bedroom as he slept soundly.

"Ah, and how did you get here?"

:..._Auto Pilot_...:

The two words flashed on the monitor, making Rory and Amy smirk before the nurse kissed his wife goodbye, "See you tonight after my shift, invite the Doctor in for supper if he wakes up in time."

"Will do."

No sooner had Rory left than the monitor flickered, showing the Doctor having moved in his sleep, and looking uncomfortable.

Amy's brow furrowed and she took a seat near the monitor, pulling a book from the hiding place underneath where she had placed the novel the last time she had gone traveling.

"I hope he's not dreaming about that festival."

xxx

The Doctor slept late into the afternoon, and Amy had just finished her book when a noise from the screen caught her attention.

The time lord was writhing on the bed, moaning as he clutched the sheets under his hands. Amy watched helpless for a moment, the nightmare holding her friend hostage until the TARDIS blared an alarm, lighting up a corridor to take Amy where she needed to be.

...

The Doctor's room was unlocked and opening when Amy sprinted in, a near strangled scream ripping from the time lord's throat as he convulsed slightly.

"Doctor! Doctor! Wake up!"

Amy held the Doctor's cheeks between her hands as the struggling abruptly ended and the alien woke up with a sharp gasp, heaving for air as his eyes watered.

"Doctor?"

He didn't answer verbally, he was shaking too lyas the glazed eyes squeezed shut with the falling of tears.

"What is it? Doctor look at me..."

The alien complied for a second, barely glancing at the human before hugging her tightly, sobs wracking his lean body as he clutched her sweater.

"Amy...Amy...Amy..."

"Sshh...I'm here...it's okay..." Her voice dropped down to a soothing hum as the alien hugged her, rocking back and forth as soft whimpers slid past his clenched teeth.

The Doctor was having trouble breathing as he tried to calm his hearts down, not succeeding as he began coughing and shaking harder.

"Hey...hey...Doctor...it's okay...look at me...sshh...it's ok..."

Slowly his breathing calmed and the sobs ceased to shake him, the time lord merely remained clinging to Amy as the tears kept falling as Amy gently rocked him back and forth, the silence only broken by the infrequent sniffs from the alien and Amy rubbing his back soothingly.

"Doctor...do you want to talk about it?"

The time lord moaned a little, not meeting Amy's gaze as she pulled away slightly, shaking his head weakly, "N-no...I...I-I'd rather not..."

'Alright," Amy murmured, hugging him again before slowly pulling him to his feet, "Why don't you get cleaned up and then you can come in and get a cup of tea. The TARDIS' auto-pilot brought you here."

The Doctor rolled his eyes but nodded, heading to his own bathroom and thumping the door frame a bit harshly before the door shut.

xxx

Rory had returned from the hospital while Amy had woken up the Doctor, and already had tea going in the kitchen, a hot pot sitting out in the living room with cookies and snacks when his wife and the Doctor came in.

" 'ello Doctor!"

The Time Lord gave him a slight nod, still not looking too good, but he wasn't shying away from them like he had the last time he'd seen them. The alien hadn't spoken more than ten words to them when he returned them to Leadworth after the TARDIS took them to Gallifrey.

While the Ponds were glad the Doctor had some time to himself to recover, they had wondered if he'd ever come back.

Maybe it wasn't a good thing he returned.

xxx

The three travelers were camped out on the couch, the fireplace crackling soothingly as they enjoyed the quiet evening.

Amy was in the middle, Rory on her right, the Doctor on her left. Each had their own blanket to wrap around their shoulders, plus a thick quilt over all their legs as the tea was sipped contentedly and the snacks eaten.

Rory gently tapped Amy's hand. gesturing faintly to the Doctor who had listed to one side and was falling back asleep.

"Doctor...hey, come on...don't sleep like that..."

A faint noise came from the alien as he shifted to lean against Amy, a soft sigh sliding from his lips as his head rested on her shoulder.

"Go to sleep Doctor, everything's fine."

The Doctor did just that, easing into sleep as Amy combed her fingers through his hair.

"Hope he sleeps alright." Rory murmured before tugging the quilt over all three a little higher, guiding Amy to lean back on him without waking the Doctor.

"I do too."

xxx

xx

xxx

The Doctor awoke with his ear filled with the soft lull of someone's heart beat. Just one heart, he took a moment to focus his eyes before he realized it was Amy, his head was on her shoulder as she slept on Rory.

The time lord was quite content, and the soft breathing from his companions eased him back into sleep within minutes of the sun beginning to creep up.

...

Rory was the first one to wake fully, blinking in the soft light filtering through the curtains. Amy had sifted off his arm and was now laying with her head in his lap, half of his covers tucked into hers as she breathed deeply. Getting up without the Scot waking was easy, the red-head slept like a log.

Now that she was lying flat, the Doctor was tipped sideways rather awkwardly with his head on her hip. Rory gently moved him to lay against the other arm of the couch, a pillow under his head to support his neck.

The nurse smirked, before whispering under his breath and leaving, "Might as well start breakfast."

xxx

The Doctor awoke the second time to the smell of frying bacon, the Ponds' living room was now brightly lit by the sun. Amy had shifted and stolen almost all the covers, wrapping herself in them and appearing to be a multicolored cocoon with a red tuft of hair at one end.

The alien turned a little when a soft grunt sounded from the kitchen, Rory must have gotten up already.

He stood up, taking the only free blanket and wrapping it around his shoulders, heading to the kitchen in search of company that was not only awake but also had a source of heat, the house was chilled.

Rory was in the middle of cooking eggs on the stove when the Doctor stumbled in a bit sleepily, sitting in a chair at the table that was already covered with food.

"Morning Doctor."

A low mumbling was the best answer the alien could come up with, earning a chuckle from the human.

The nurse looked over his shoulder to see the Doctor sipping the hot tea, his face relaxing as he swallowed, the tense shoulders eased to a more comfortable position.

"Doctor? You prefer bacon or sausage? Amy and I eat either so it won't matter."

The time lord shifted a little, clearing his throat before looking up, "Sausage please."

"Coming right up."

Rory watched through the reflection in the window as the Doctor began to fix himself a bagel, using the strawberry preserves on top of the cream cheese. The human also noticed a dull thud from the living room, mentally counting the steps until he held a glass of water out to one side, smiling as Amy took it within a second.

"Morning Amy."

"Mmph..."

The Doctor cracked a faint grin as Amy sat down and dropped her forehead onto the table and set her glass on the back of her head, before she could let it go and move her hand Rory had quickly swapped it out with an ice pack. The red head had most likely fallen off the couch.

"Earl Grey or Peppermint Amy?"

"Mmphghrrr."

Rory rolled his eyes, "Earl Grey it is then."

The Doctor smirked further this time, nodding to Rory as the man set down a plate of bacon in front of him before giving Amy a cup of tea.

It was another five minutes before Amy was coherent enough to fix her own breakfast, waking up in time for Rory to turn off the stove and join them.

The Ponds were a bit shocked that the meal went rather quietly, but the color was beginning to return to the Doctor's face as he ate, the playful and sometimes obnoxiously troublesome light in his eyes coming back as Amy started making quips at Rory's cooking.

"Oh really? Well Amy you just earned the right to wash up afterwards."

"And for that you get to start the laundry."

The Doctor chuckled, "Now we all know why you are Rory _Ponds_..."

The nurse glared briefly as Amy laughed, "And we all know who wears the pants in this house."

"Definitely not Rory."

Rory gaped at the Doctor before crossing his arms and pouting, mimicking the Doctor so well that Amy just howled with laughter before throwing her bagel at the Doctor as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Just another day for the time travelers.

* * *

**Tada! Thank you for the one and only reviewer! You made my day!**

**Enjoy!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

* * *

**Five  
**

**Spectrox+Time Lord=A big problem  
**

xxx

Amy loved time traveling...

Rory didn't mind it at all and did find most of it great...

The Doctor lived for adventure...

Who knew being forced into staying in one place because of such an adventure would be so dull?

xxx

The Doctor led the way out of the TARDIS and onto the surface of the dry and arid planet...

"Androzani Minor! My it's been while since I've been here! Don't remember much of that visit though..."

Amy was already chuckling as she let the soft sand run through her fingers, watching the Doctor as he looked around.

"Anyway...what shall we do first, explore the caves, catch a Magma Beast, or maybe go sand surfing if the settlements still allow that."

Rory merely rolled his eyes, offering Amy her arm before the pair jogged to catch up with the Doctor as he walked casually towards a town.

Amy linker her other arm through the Doctor's, one for the sake of it and companionship, the other to keep him from running off. Judging by the calm and relatively peaceful look on the alien's face, he might actually behave this time.

Oh how wrong she was...

xxx

A group of young children met them at the gate, laughing and tugging them into the town after the sentry's waved them on. The oldest, a young boy about eight lead them to the Corporate building where an attendant took them up to the Chairman's office.

The entire way the Doctor had been quiet, eyes glancing around with faint grins or frowns flashing on his face as he remembered.

"Sirius Conglomerate's Chairman will see you now."

The office was the same as it had been, the high backed chair spun to face the window before drifting around to face them.

The chairman...or actually woman had her blonde air up on her head, her light blue dress with diagonal shoulder wrap and accenting pearl drop earrings stood when she saw them.

"Timmin?" The Doctor took a few steps forward, checking over the woman in front of him, "Is that you?"

"Not quite, I am Zende, I'm assuming you are the Doctor?"

"Yes...I am, how many chairmen have there been since Timmin? She was rather early in her career when I last spoke with her."

Amy tried to ignore the faint desperation in the Doctor's voice, he sounded like he didn't want to know the answer.

Zende smiled faintly, a bit sadly though as she pulled up a screen on her wall, typing in a command for a video, "Timmin left this for you."

As the image loaded, the Doctor glanced out the window at the excavated mountains of sandstone, or mud rock, or magma-whichever you preferred.

"What year is it?"

The video interrupted as the recording date flashed on the screen, 18.45.14,568 F.C.

"That's 181 years after I left...a rather long time..."

Zende's head ducked as the video began, a private hospital room showing an old lady attached to numerous monitors, breathing weakly.

"Timmin..."

"This was taken over 2,000 years ago Doctor, I'll leave you to it, shall I take your companions to the rooms set aside for visitors? I can arrange for someone to give them a tour while you are occupied." Zende sounded extremely empathetic as she waited for the Doctor's response.

The time lord's eyes were locked on the video as a medical technician read out the results on the monitors, none of them good.

"Y-yes...please..."

"Doctor?"

"Just go Amy...please...I-I need to see this alone, afterwards I'll take you two to the lower caves and show you some neat crystals."

Rory nodded for Amy, gently taking her arm and following Zende from the room.

The Doctor turned the volume up a click, sighing as he leaned against the conference table, crossing his arms as the dying woman looked at the camera.

_"Doctor...It took you long enough to come back...I wish I had been able to tell you this in person...my life ends quite happily at 268 years...my times does fly...but you already know that don't you Doctor?" Timmin sounded weak...but still like the organized business woman she had been over a century ago._

The Doctor smirked a little, shaking his head at the woman's faint smile.

"_By the time you see this I'll be gone, my intern...Adjutrix is taking my place shortly, I hope he is the next chairman you meet...if not many things will have changed here...Doctor...thank you again for how you helped my people..."_

The Time Lord grimaced, not watching the screen as the sounds of weak breathing turned into sharp gasps and monitors began to beep a bit harshly.

_"Fare well Doctor, and enjoy your visit to Androzani Minor, the caves have become rather more interesting..."_

Timmin began to cough harshly, rattling wheezes ending the video as the Doctor quickly left the office, head bowed as he clenched his teeth together to fight off what his mind was trying to force out.

He should have stayed, he would have heard Timmin warning him to not mess with the bats in the lower caves like he did last time...the Doctor never heard the warning. And it might have cost him his life.

xxx

xx

xxx

Amy squealed as she slid down the rope on her harness and gloves, laughing as she connected with the floor on her feet and was helped off the drop line by the Doctor. While he looked absolutely ridiculous in his normal clothing and a rock climbing harness, there was a faint shadow in his eyes, Amy and Rory had decided to get rid of it.

And to do that...they were going cave exploring...

With the curious Doctor...

And a Sonic Screwdriver...

The tunnels twisted and turned like bubble bath foam, pockets of rock popping out or little dips sinking in like dimples.

Rory and Amy amused themselves with twisting into ridiculous poses among the sandstones as they took pictures of one another. The Doctor had contented himself with scanning the crystal formations among the rocks with the Sonic, occupying his idle time with the results on the small silver device as it glowed green.

"Rory! Come look at this!"

The two humans raced ahead of the Doctor, pausing at a ledge that looked down over a deep cavern, the bottom covered with crystals and white "stuff" that reminded the humans of cobwebs, the walls had dark gray brown bats clinging to them, all deeply asleep.

Some of the cobweb stuff was gathered on the ledge the three travelers stood on, the Doctor crouched, scanning the material with the Sonic before the flash of light startled a bat.

The mammal flew upward screeching, knocking the Sonic form the Doctor's hand and down to the cave bottom, shattering the device.

"Oh No...not again..."

Amy snorted, laughing into her hand as the Doctor carefully plucked a little of the white filament stuff and began playing with it, stretching the fibers and pushing them back together.

The Doctor bunched up the cobweb stuff into a little ball before popping it in his mouth, chewing slightly before swallowing, "Anyway...the TARDIS will come up with another one...she always does...how about we go see an underground lake, you'll see the most fascinating light shows at sunset...which will be in...just two minutes!"

The two humans laughed, each grabbing an arm of the Doctor and following him as he dragged them further into the caves.

xxx

xx

xxx

Their visit to Androzani Minor lasted just over two days, and for once the heading back to the TARDIS seemed a bit reluctant. The Doctor's melancholy mood had gone away with the entrancing light show of crystals underwater in the caves, the light filtering through holes in the stones and the crystals natural nightly glowing made one heck of a sight.

Amy plopped into a yellow chair near Rory s the Doctor paced around the console, flicking switches and adjusting controls before quickly snatching the new Sonic Screwdriver. The TARDIS lurched, sending them tumbling to the floor, Rory lunged in time to grab the new Sonic as it flew from the Doctor's grasp and headed towards the floor.

The little screen showed a result of a scan, probably left over from the old one.

unrefined spectrox

Rory didn't think much of it, the Doctor hadn't seemed to care when he saw it, the Sonic erased the result after several minutes of inactivity, closing up as it was handed back to its owner.

"Right then, we are set to stay in the Vortex for about eight hours, so get some sleep, and then will be off doing something else."

The humans smiled, both trudging up to their bedroom while the Doctor watched the monitor, smiling a little as the familiar chaotic swirls and crackling of the Vortex reverberated outside the blue box.

Idly scratching at his abdomen beneath his clothes, the Doctor cleared his throat.

He didn't know those two actions would turn into major symptoms of something serious...

* * *

**Hi! Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Kerri: Thank you!**

* * *

**Six  
**

**Spectrox+Time Lord=Spectrox Toxaemia  
**

xxx

Two days after Androzani Minor, Amy was curled in a yellow chair, reading a novel from another planet while the Doctor fussed with a set of dislodged buttons on the console.

Every few minutes he'd either chuckle as a piece did what he wanted it to, or he would grunt and fuss if it moved wrong.

The Scot looked up as the Doctor's work paused yet again, the fifth time in the last few minutes, his right hand idly scratched his left as he stared up at the wiring above him that sat within the console panels. As he was pondering, his right hand moved to scratch his cheek, rubbing the skin a bit more harshly than someone would if just thinking.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you scratching your face?"

The Doctor looked over at her before examining his hand, shrugging idly, "Just thinking, I'm getting distracted easily today..."

Amy shrugged, returning her attention to her book.

xxx

The Doctor's tinkering lasted well into the day, or at least what the Ponds' considered "day", the entire time Amy would glance up and more often than not see the Doctor scratch at his left hand or right cheek, over several hours the areas grew faintly red and irritated.

"Doctor, stop scratching your hand and cheek, you're turning it red."

"Am I?"

"Yea."

The Doctor shrugged, forcibly keeping his hands busy elsewhere, Amy watched for several minutes, by the time the Doctor had gotten more accomplished in ten minutes than he had all day, he was twitching and shuddering uncomfortably.

With a faint growl the time lord gave up, scratching irritably at his hand and face before sitting up, glaring at the now bright red appendage.

"What's wrong?"

"Not the faintest idea Pond, my skin's driving me mad..."

Rory looked up from where he was lounged on the steps, "Mind if I take a look?"

The Doctor didn't respond right away, scratching at his hand feverishly before clearing his throat, "Please...this driving me crazy."

Rory took the Doctor's left hand in his, gently turning it it and examining the now blistering rash on the Doctor's hand and reddening skin of his cheek.

"Why don't you and I look in the med bay for something? Looks like you're reacting to something."

Clearing his throat again and rubbing at his face the Doctor nodded, for once following Rory willingly.

xxx

The Doctor lay on the medical table, the head end elevated while Rory cleaned the rash before applying a light antibiotic itch cream he found in a drawer. After the trip to Venice and taking care of the Doctor then, the nurse had reorganized the med bay to what was safe for the Doctor into one area while what humans could use in another area.

The alien's eyes drifted closed peacefully as Rory applied the cream, the itching must have really been bothering him.

"Better Doctor?"

"Mhm...thanks, can finally think straight." The time lord replied, sitting up and letting his legs fall over the edge. Clearing his throat again the alien made to get down when he coughed slightly.

"Or not...open up..."

"AAAAAAH..."

Rory lightly flicked the Doctors head, avoiding the rash as he gently used a hand to tip the aliens head as he shined a light down his throat.

"A bit red and irritated, whatever you're reacting to doesn't really like Time Lords."

A noise from the Doctor was interpreted as 'obviously' before the Doctor pulled away from the tongue depressor, clearing his throat and coughing.

The nurse turned and dug through a drawer of pill bottles, finding an antihistamine and giving the Doctor one.

"Try and stay on these for a couple doses, should clear it up, seems like only a slight reaction."

The Doctor nodded, dry swallowing the pill before smirking at Rory's glare and taking the bottle of water, half of it was gone by the time they returned to the console room.

xxx

xx

xxx

The Doctor listened to Rory and stayed on the antihistamine, but the reaction or whatever it was refused to be subdued and progressed to a steady coughing every few minutes from the alien. The rash had settled to dull blisters, kept under control with the cream every few hours, but the Doctor still wasn't happy.

...

Amy stepped into the med bay upon seeing the light still on, finding a black light shining down on the examination table.

The Doctor lay on his side, his cheek fully exposed to the light while he held his left hand awkwardly to keep it exposed.

"Doctor? You feeling alright?"

"Mhm..." The time lord opened his eyes a little, looking tired as he cleared his throat and gestured to the water bottle across the room, nodding when Amy handed it to him.

"*_cough_*...skin's bothering me...black light numbs the cells because-" He cleared his throat again, finding it hard to speak and gave up on a long answer, "Because of the light spectrum effects...I can't feel anything right now on my skin."

Amy hummed in response, rubbing the time lord's shoulder as he shifted it feebly, "Are you hurting?"

"A little, can't sleep very well...bit sore..." He mumbled, closing his eyes again after sipping the water.

Amy murmured soothingly as the Doctor shifted under her hand, moving to allow her hand more access to his shoulder muscles.

Rory entered a few minutes later, just in time for the Doctor to sit up and start coughing, nearly gagging as he clutched his stomach.

"Doctor?"

Amy turned off the black light as Rory rubbed his hands up and down the alien's arms, returning feeling to his skin.

The rash on his hand had extended from just the palm to the back of his hand and was now following the blood vessels under the skin.

The time lord coughed a bit heavily this time, a hand rubbing his stomach a little at the spasms.

"Doctor I think you should go lie down, you need to rest."

Amy was shocked when the alien complied, clearing his throat repeatedly and following Rory from the med bay.

Something wasn't right.

xxx

Amy was usually a sound sleeper, so waking to find Rory gone wasn't anything new, she could even sleep through the TARDIS being rocked while traveling.

But her gut feeling wouldn't let her remain asleep this time.

Amy Pond didn't have to look far, lights in the corridors led to the med bay where the bright illumination was almost too much for her sleep filled eyes.

Until she heard someone start retching.

...

The Doctor had been laid out on the exam table again while Rory examined him, but then the alien started to cough and then gag. Within a minute he had jumped up and was now leaning over the sink, emptying his stomach.

"Rory?"

The nurse glanced over his shoulder, his arms occupied with bracing the time lord so he didn't fall.

"Amy, grab a cloth from that shelf over there and get it damp, there's a second sink in the work room through the other door."

By the time she returned, Rory was half carrying the Doctor back to the table, the alien only able to sit on before he groaned, holding his stomach with one hand and trying not to fall over.

"Doctor...one to ten...how much pain are you in..."

"Counting my..._unnngh_...stomach?"

"Yeah."

"Four...but my stomach is closer to fifty."

Rory winced, placing a hand on the Doctor's shoulder to support him as he groaned again, stumbling off the table and rushing to the sink.

Amy grimaced, handing Rory the cloth before all three of them had to struggle for a hand hold as the TARDIS just about did a somersault before alarms went off all over the place.

"Amy! Get to the console and see if you can do anything!"

"What! Are you crazy I can't fly this thing!"

Rory glared briefly from where he was crouched on the floor next to where the Doctor fell and was struggling not to throw up again. Amy didn't have a choice, she took off running through the TARDIS, sliding to a stop in front of the console and began to randomly pull at levers.

It didn't work.

"Come on! Stop moving you stupid thing!"

"Insulting her won't help anything!"

"River!"

The curly haired blonde smiled, patting Amy's arm before darting to the other side of the console, hands taking over the controls, within in seconds the noise died down to the usual humming.

"Finicky thing isn't she?" River smirked, hugging Amy before glancing around.

"Where's the Doctor?"

xxx

xx

xxx

River and Amy watched Rory scan the Doctor's prone form on the exam table, something was seriously wrong.

The Doctor was unbelievably pale besides the now bright red and blistering rash on the right side of his face as well as up half of his left arm. He coughed every few seconds, the sound dragging from his burning throat painfully and only compounding with his upset stomach.

"Rory? What is it?"

The nurse shook his head, "I don't know...Ive never heard of it..._Spectrox Toxaemia_..."

The TARDIS was the only on who reacted, the Doctor was too out of it to care anymore, the scanner screen showed what must have been a past version of the Doctor on Androzani Minor, contracting the disease from raw spectrox and becoming infected, only healing when he fully regenerated,

"Oh no..."

River's head ducked, "Androzani Minor is too far from here, we're on the other side of the galaxy six systems over, he's hitting the end of stage two and beginning of three, we're running out of time."

Rory glanced at her with a bit of a 'duh' look until the Doctor groaned, stirring and clutching his stomach.

"Doctor? What's wrong?"

"Cramps...hurts...want to...unnngh..."

"Want to what sweetie?" River asked softly as she brushed his soaked hair from his forehead.

"...mnngh...gonna be sick..."

Amy reacted fast enough as the Doctor leaned over, throwing up mostly acid...and blood.

River and Rory shared a look, "The spectrox is tearing his stomach apart..."

As the Doctor leaned back he glared at the time traveler, "I kind of noticed that when it started burning earlier."

Rory grimaced, stepping away to think for a moment before his eyes widened and he snapped into action, "River, why don't you and Amy set a course for Earth, Doctor let's get you into bed, you'll be more comfortable."

Amy wanted to protest, Earth wouldn't have an antidote, but the awful look on her best friend's face said he'd try anything.

The red head left, and with excellent timing, the Doctor ended up being carried by Rory, his legs had given out.

The nurse bridal carried the Doctor to his room, the door opening automatically and a gentle light turning on. The Doctor didn't truly react as Rory settled him in bed, the covers pulled up to keep a chill or fever at bay.

"Just rest Doctor, we'll take care of this...I promise..."

The alien moaned faintly, cramps racking his stomach and back, "I'll...try..."

Rory gently rubbed the time lord's back until he fell asleep, leaving the bedroom silently.

Time was running out...

* * *

**Review please?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**P.S. I don't own King Edward, his second wife or anything in history, just the idea in this chapter.**

* * *

**Seven  
**

**Spectrox+Time Lord+Magic=...does not compute  
**

xxx

Rory sighed softly as he sat next to the near comatose Doctor. Six hours ago he'd had to move the timelord back to the infirmary when a simple check on the Doctor found him having difficult breathing.

The Doctor's legs were now completely numb, hips stiff and barely bending, and stomach unresponsive. The paralysis of the stomach and abdominal muscles were beginning to numb the diaphragm, resulting in trouble breathing.

Rory had ordered the Doctor to no talking when the right side of his face had started to spasm and losing muscle control. An IV was currently in the Gallifreyan's right wrist, a circulation wrap on the left to prevent paralysis as long as possible.

"Rory?"

River slipped inside at the nurse's nod, sitting on the other side of the medical bed and gently clasping the Doctor's hand in her's.

"Any change?"

"None, how long until Earth?"

"Already there, but I think the TARDIS sent us somewhere other than when I coordinated, the readings are off. Wanted to check in with you and the Doctor before venturing out."

Rory nodded, jumping to his feet as the Doctor groaned harshly, struggling against the IV for a moment before looking around weakly.

"Hey, don't try and move too much alright?"

The Doctor nodded feebly, blinking a bit too slow for Rory's tastes, but still conscious.

"*_sigh_*...River and I are going to get you out of here, we might have found something to help..."

Again, a weak nod, this one followed by several slow blinks that almost didn't reopen.

Amy was holding the TARDIS door open as Rory and River each braced the Doctor upright, an arm over their shoulders as the time lord slumped against them.

Earth wasn't modern day Leadworth, it wasn't even remotely modern...

The Doctor had enough strength to mumble a year, and then went limp, unconscious once more.

"England, 918 A.D."

This time, Rory was beginning to wonder if the Doctor would wake up...

xxx

xx

xxx

The Doctor groaned weakly, gasping at his dry and burning throat before blinking in the searing light, wincing as sharp shadows blurred across his vision. Voices were speaking rapidly, slurred to the time lord's ears. A soft, weak cry slid from his throat as he struggled.

Too hot...

Something was smothering him, the soft cry turned into a pained yell, dragging at the sore half of his face, he couldn't breathe...

"_Allons-y_"

xxx

xx

xxx

Rory leaned on the battlement walls, staring out at what would one day become London, England. River and Amy were currently sitting with the Doctor as he slept.

Upon arrived in the 10th century, King Edward had summoned them to the refuge of his summer lodge. There, a "friend" had healed the Doctor at the last minute to keep him alive.

Only Rory knew he was from a different time as well.

"Rory Williams?"

The nurse turned, seeing the other time traveler walking closer.

"You're leaving aren't you?"

The traveler nodded, "Can't be here when the Doctor wakes up, it's too early for him to see me again."

Sighing, Rory nodded, "But he will see you again right? He needs to know the others who traveled with him still remember and care."

For once the question directed at the traveler went unanswered for several minutes, compared to the nonstop chattering all through caring for the Doctor.

"Yes, the Doctor will see me again, heh, that's funny, anyway I have to go, take care Rory Williams, and don't let the Doctor slip away without a good-bye, it hurts him more than it will ever hurt you, he'll have to live with it after you're gone..."

With that the traveler was gone in a flash, similar to River's Vortex Manipulator.

xxx

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_And what then shall we see?_

_Tick tock until the day_

_That thou shalt marry me_

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_And what now shall we play?_

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_Now Summer's gone away?_

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_And all the years they fly_

_Tick tock and all too soon_

_You and I must die_

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_He cradled her and he rocked her_

_Tick tock goes the clock_

_Even for the Doctor..._

_...  
_

_Doctor  
_

_...  
_

_"...Doctor..."  
_

_"_...Doctor..."

xxx

"Doctor!"

His eyes shot open with a sharp gasp, Amy's bright red hair even with River's curly blonde as they hovered over him.

Then he realized why, he was shaking, no...trembling, in a panic. A rushed hand to his chest concluded both of his hearts beating frantically, but slowly calming down as River gently petted his forehead. The Doctor sighed, leaning back against the pillows heavily.

"I...I'm fine Pond...stop getting in a tizzy."

Amy rolled her eyes, helping River as they pulled the still exhausted time lord up to sit against the headboard.

"How are you feeling sweetie?"

The Doctor yawned, wincing at the tug in his side before shifting under the blankets.

"I can feel pain so obviously I'm not dead, but wait...oh...unrefined spectrox...did I _actually_ swallow that?"

River chuckled, handing her love a wooden cup with water, "Yes you did, now drink this and then tell me how badly your stomach hurts."

The Doctor grumbled slightly, inducing a few coughs before sipping the liquid, while he waited for a result, Amy was opening the heavy wooden shutters over the windows...in his stone room...

"Where are we?"

River flicked his nose, "Stomach?"

"Fine, sore but fine River, now where are we? Thought you set the TARDIS for London..."

"I did."

"But?"

The chamber door opened, revealing a mid-dark ages woman with clothing of the wealthy.

"You and your companions good sir, have come to the year of after our lord's death 918, in the reign of King Edward the Elder."

The Doctor smiled, trying to stand and give the lady a bow before crying out and wrapping his arms around his stomach.

"Fine my gun, sweetie you're in no condition to be moving from this bed let alone standing and giving a former bow. Eda here understands."

"Eda...Queen Elfleda! River let go of me! I'm perfectly fine! I-"

The Doctor's struggles to stand had led to his legs cramping from lack of use, River was trying to massage his calves to relieve the pain while Amy tried to keep his attention.

A deep groan vibrated from the Doctor's throat before Rory was suddenly at Amy's side, injecting a pain killer into the time lord's upper arm, rubbing the tender skin as the Doctor convulsed slightly, eyes fluttering shut as the drug over took the pain.

Queen Elfleda smiled sadly, "I hope he recovers my friends, thank you for accepting our hospitality."

River smiled, smoothing her borrowed skirt when the cure made the Doctor throw up on her pants, "We thank you, your majesty, we will leave this afternoon. Our friend will recover faster among his own time."

The lady nodded, leaving the chamber with a gentle smile.

In the corner of the chamber, an invisible watcher looked on, a slight frown marring their face as the Doctor shifted uncomfortably in his sleep. The time lord would recover, in fact he'd be up and moving by late evening.

But the watcher was running out of time...

xxx

xx

xxx

The Doctor awoke in his own bed, the dark blue of the duvet and blankets peeking at the corner of his vision before he sat up stiffly, feeling his age irritably harsh. The TARDIS was humming steadily, mentally reassuring her time lord...her thief, that he was safe. Standing took a couple minutes, the Doctor's legs were having trouble bending at the knees but at least supported him as he staggered to the door.

River or the Ponds must have put him to bed in the TARDIS, he hoped it had been Rory, at least he was a nurse and could separate private from work. Waking in the stone room, he'd been in light, loose pants and a flow-y shirt. Now he was in a set of TARDIS blue pajamas, black socks keeping his feet warm.

The TARDIS opened his door readily, lights dimming a little when he winced at the brightness.

Amy was leaning against the console while River and Rory played chess on the floor as the Doctor made it to the top of the stairs. So far Rory had played well enough to eliminate a third of River' pieces, in comparison she had just over half of his.

"E4 Knight to take C5 Bishop, leaving both the Rook and the King exposed and frozen in between the blocking pawns and Bishop as River's queen is at G3 and worthless."

"Doctor!"

River stood as Amy met the Doctor at the bottom of the steps, leaving Rory able to take the Doctor's advice and move his knight. River glared after kissing the Doctor's cheek, crouching and moving her queen into a position where it completely froze Rory's king.

"Hey! Doctor!"

The time lord shifted from where he'd been hugging Amy tightly to standing at the TARDIS controls, "I gave you a suggestion never said it would or wouldn't work, nor did I say it was foolproof."

Rory sighed, knocking his queen over before shaking River's hand. The two had just managed to put all the pieces back in the box and tuck it in a chair before the Doctor yanked the throttle lever down and sent the TARDIS rumbling once more.

Off they went.

xxx

xx

xxx

"Well, he said he'd be in touch. "

Rory sighed faintly, he'd heard this and been apart of this conversation several times, "Two months ago."

"Two months is nothing. He's up to something. I know he is. I know him."

The nurse rolled his eyes as Amy opened a letter, the ripping sound dull against the chattering noise of the video in the telly.

"What is it? Amy? "

"A date, a time, a map reference. I think it's an invitation."

"From who?"

The pause was a bit irritating, but Amy stepped closer, holding up the card and then the envelope.

"It's not signed. Look, TARDIS blue."

* * *

**Sorry for the delay! Please review! Remember where we are in the series now?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Set after The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe but before Asylum of the Daleks**

**P.S. I don't own Nerf either...  
**

* * *

**Eight  
**

**Christmas+Family+Promise= Presents and the Future  
**

xxx

Christmas Dinner was gentle and loving, River arriving just after they'd served with rushed apologies to her parents before she stopped in her tracks and stared at the Doctor.

"Well...Hello Sweetie."

The Doctor smiled, standing and pulling out River's seat as Rory fixed her plate. The time traveler smiled, winking at her husband before launching herself into a catch up conversation with her parents. The Doctor ate in silence, watching the three humans interact so calmly, asking questions from each other and the Doctor, laughing and acting as if the past two years...the Doctor's death...had never happened.

Which it hadn't...not really...

xxx

The Ponds arranged themselves on the floor in front of their fireplace, roasting marshmallows while River broke chocolate bars in half as she leaned against the arm chair off to the side. The Doctor sat next to Amy, watching as she fixed a heaping plate of s'mores, the time lord was relaxed and halfway sleepy, for once realizing how right Madge was...Christmas was for family and friends.

Snacking on the sweet treats only lasted just around an hour, somehow a simple Christmas dinner with just four people, (even if two were time travelers) could wear a person out.

The Doctor briefly recalled River gently helping him to his feet, stealing a few kisses when Rory wasn't looking as she undid his shoes, braces, bow tie, and removed his jacket, settling the time lord on the long couch with a blanket and a pillow.

The Pond's house wasn't sound proof...

xxx

Amy smiled as she leaned over the back of the couch, the Doctor was curled up, and under the pillow as he slept soundly, for once actually sleeping for several hours without the use of a drug or injury.

She headed into the kitchen, starting tea as River stumbled downstairs in a thick bathrobe and slippers, she wasn't much of a morning person, never had been.

Rory wasn't far behind, stopping in the living room to check on the Doctor before coming to aid River in fixing breakfast.

Amy carried a cup of Chai out to the Doctor, gently waving the steam under his nose before lightly using her fingertips to brush the hair out his closed eyes.

"Doctor? C'mon...wake up."

"Mmpphgmm..."

Amy smiled, giggling slightly before poking the time lord's nose.

"Wake up."

"Go away Pond."

"Now if I did that, you would miss breakfast."

At that the Doctor groaned sleepily, opening his eyes with a half-amused glare before standing and stretching.

"Haven't slept like that in awhile."

Amy smirked, wrapping an arm around the Doctor to escort him to the kitchen and food, "That's because you're back with family and that just makes everything better."

xxx

Presents were opened amidst laughter and teasing, mostly centered at the Doctor whose gifts consisted of a dozen or so little ones that had jokes tied to them.

Including a fez.

Which River promptly shot of his head.

With a Nerf gun.

To say the least, the living room was littered with foam darts with suction cups on one end, crumpled balls of tissue and wrapping paper, and everyone had at least one bow stuck to their hair. The Doctor had five.

The last four presents were personal, Amy's was from River, a photo album of pictures all through out River's life that she could give, including ones when she was a little girl before Mels. Rory gave River a necklace, the locket holding pictures of her parents, and of the Doctor. Amy had a new mobile phone for the Doctor since he'd broken the other one and (purposefully) lost the pieces, and a house key, only to be used if he let the Ponds know he was there and didn't touch the stove.

The Doctor gave Rory a heavy leather bound book, the Gallifreyan script painstakingly translated into English by hand, the title...

_Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Book of the Time Lords_

Rory glanced up at the Doctor nodding at the trust implied and quickly sticking the book on a high shelf to make sure Amy didn't ask about it.

"Who wants lunch?"

xxx

River zapped herself back to Stormcage a few hours later, her gifts tucked into "bigger on the inside" pockets of the leather jacket the Doctor got her to replace the one he'd blown up a few...decades in the future. Amy was cleaning up the living room as the Doctor slipped outside, shouting a quick goodbye to her as Rory followed him out.

" 'ey Doctor Mind coming back later next year...you now after this time's new year? Just stop in for awhile, Amy would appreciate it."

The time lord stood on the sidewalk for a moment completely silent, staring at the stars, "You know Rory, on the planet Arbiter in the Freusian Galaxy...oh about two centuries from now, a group of stars will form and appear to be nearly identical to Earth's Big Dipper."

"Doctor..."

The Doctor smiled, bowing a bit a foolishly before backing towards the TARDIS across the street, "I think I can make it, might be a bit late, if I'm coming from the other side of the universe..."

Rory smiled, waving as the time lord slipped inside.

xxx

xx

xxx

"Amy Pond!"

"Doctor!

...

"Alright now Ponds, what is the date?"

Rory smiled as he and Amy led the Doctor into their house, this time at least the TARDIS was parked in the back garden, "February 4th."

"Knew it! I was a week off! Still need to adjust that balancer ray wiring...keep forgetting that."

As the trio entered, they found River lounging on the couch, "Hello Sweetie."

"Date for you?"

"Two and a half years after the Christmas you finally showed up here, and spoilers darling don't ask about *_hic_* beaches."

"River have you been drinking?"

"Not *_hic_* yet..."

* * *

**Sorry if this is rushed and broken up, didn't want to drag this one out and just needed to insert bits and pieces...**

**Review please?  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Set after The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe but before Asylum of the Daleks**

* * *

**Nine  
**

**February+River+Mundane=Not Good  
**

xxx

River's hiccups subsided rather quickly, Rory had exhausted all tricks he knew and finally consented to letting the Doctor kiss her hard enough to make her stop. That resulted in the time lord rather dazed and bit subdued the rest of the day.

After a rather lengthy catch up conversation, and a few swipes of the sonic screwdriver, both the Doctor and River were able to stay long term without creating a new time stream or paradox. Who wouldn't want a vacation in Leadworth with your parents or parents-in-laws?

xxx

xx

xxx

"Rory!"

"What?!"

"We're out of bread, stop at the market on your way home would you?!"

"Why do I have to do it?!"

The Doctor chuckled as he climbed down the stairs, Rory was tying his shoes on to go to work while Amy was making breakfast, the Scot still found it amusing to yell.

"Mother dear, I'll go get bread after we eat, let daddy go to work or he'll be late."

"River you're not helping."

"Thanks River!"

"Shut up Rory!"

"You still have that article due today!"

"Don't remind me!"

The time lord was trying hard to hide his smirk as River made a softer comment, earning a scream from Amy before Rory rushed out to door to escape his wife's temper.

"Good luck Doctor!"

xxx

Good luck indeed...

Amy had sat down to type her article, handing River twenty pounds to pick up bread and take the Doctor out to lunch to leave her alone.

Currently the Doctor was sitting on a bench outside the bakery bored out of his mind as River waited in line. How she had that much patience for time passing normally he'd never know...

Wasn't helping that the TARDIS had locked him out completely, leaving him in a forced vacation. Even River's vortex manipulator was worthless. it was sitting on the TARDIS console.

The time lord sighed rather obnoxiously as River finally came out with a bag of hot stuffed rolls and two loaves of bread. The Doctor was content to eat his roll while walking, leading River through the semi-busy town square, watching the humans move about within their own lives and paths.

xxx

Rory's shift went from eight to noon, and then eight to midnight. He was on the post-op floor currently, mainly helping patients get over waking up from surgery and adjusting to changes, medication, stitches, etc.

Driving home was simple, eating a quick lunch with just his wife was great, seeing a co-worker stop by to chat was good...getting a call that he had to go on call for an emergency due to a shooting further in town...

That was bad.

xxx

The Doctor was heaving for air as he lightly slapped River's cheek, running from a man with a gun in a crowded UK market square was chaos, they'd tripped over a sidewalk edge, careened into a few people and fell to the ground with several others as more shots rang out. River had smacked her head pretty hard, laying dazed on the ground amidst screaming, crying, and approaching sirens.

"Think my dad's...on...duty...sweetie..."

The time lord was too panicked to notice her humor, "Yeah sure River, everything's fine." She smiled, sighing a little at the pain and holding her husband's hand as he fidgeted as he kneeled next to her.

Paramedics, nurses, and technicians were rushing about helping those bleeding, especially the handful who'd been shot first. The second wave arrived with police and fire-fighters. These helped those injured in running, such as River.

"Sir I need you to back away for a moment."

Rory wasn't even paying attention to the Doctor as he quickly slid in between the time lord and River, beginning to examine her with efficiency that rivaled the Daleks. A co-worker sprinted over with a stretched, helping Rory...Nurse Williams, to ease a neck brace on River before calling for a pair of technicians to aid in getting her on the stretcher.

The Doctor had stood dazed, a bit bruised from the fall but mostly coming off an...well the Gallifreyan equivalent of an adrenaline rush, more like his blood had gone near boiling and was slowly cooling as the stress level decreased. Few things got the Doctor riled up when it came to humans, one was their fragile mortality, the second was tendency to use guns and violence, bullets could seriously harm him...

Rory returned to the Doctor, still in work mode as he quickly checked the alien's vitals, only snapping out of it when he had to count two heartbeats.

"You alright Doctor?"

"I'm fine, is River alright?"

Rory nodded, looping his stethoscope around his neck, "Mild concussion, will be kept overnight just in case, but otherwise fine." The nurse finished, patting the Doctor's shoulder before jogging over to Amy who was among several dozen people standing behind a police line. The Doctor sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair before turning at the sound of struggling. The shooter had been apprehended, and was currently being taken to a police vehicle for arrest.

No one paid attention to the struggling criminal, least of all the Doctor as he began walking over to Amy calmly. No one, other than the five or so police near the criminal realized how deranged he was when he forced past his two restrainers, grabbed a gun and fired randomly.

The harsh sound echoed against the stonework, followed by two more as an officer took down the gunman. Amy glanced over Rory's shoulder after the disorganized chattering started up once more.

The Doctor had frozen in place, eyes confused as he stared at her helplessly.

"Doctor? You alright?"

A minute passed before he seemed to hear her.

"Amelia..."

The Doctor fell forward, knees hitting first before the rest of his body collapsed against the ground, the reason?

A one in a million mistake, the gunshot had hit the time lord.

"DOCTOR!"

xxx

xx

xxx

The smell of the hospital bit harshly into his nose and lungs, they were already burning from...something...he couldn't remember...

What he could recall was the steady, yet slightly edgy voice of someone familiar as he was lifted and placed on something wonderfully soft. It felt good to lay on that, whatever it was...he spaced out for awhile, only waking when he was jarred painfully coming across a threshold. Sounds of the ER were loud and irritating, he scrunched up his face at the too bright lights.

Someone was talking...nonstop, asking-or maybe telling?-he couldn't tell, it was a lot of words, they hurt.

Now someone was poking his wrists, strapping something on his fingertips...another person was tugging and cutting his clothes, taking them off. The tight...thing around his neck was promptly cut and removed.

"Gunshot wound, no sign of exit of bullet, sealed and precision entry hole..."

"Obvious tearing in right middle of Latissimus Dorsi muscle, no tearing of neural structure on surface...positioning suggests second Lumbar damage."

"Get me anesthetic now!"

"Respiratory tracheal tube inserted, anesthesia on and administered, effects in place."

"Heart rate one stable Doctor Smith, blood pressure dropping on left circulatory side in return veins, Heart rate one erratic and beats dropping at 1:3 ratio Doctor."

"Going down in three...two..."

_One_

xxx

xx

xxx

Amy paced in the post-op waiting room. The Doctor had been in surgery for over four hours, and the Scot was beginning to worry...

The first thing ER technicians did upon arrival of a patient was check vitals. The time lord had two hearts...

"Amy Pond? Hi I'm Dr. Smith, your husband is settling your cousin into post-op now, why don't I take you back to the viewing room?"

The lady was sweet, a little shorter than Amy with shoulder length black hair pulled into a work bun, her scrubs had been changed and she now had a white lab coat on, contrasting rather nicely with her chocolate skin. The room she led Amy to was adjacent to the ER Post-op, three beds sat in a row with curtains between each, a glass window let visitors see waking patients and allowed for silent monitoring.

The Doctor was being checked over by Rory and Nurse Drew Carter, the friend who had driven the three of them to the square earlier. A breathing aid was tucked into the time lord's nose, an IV in his left wrist, blood transfusion on his right, and a heart monitor on both hands. In the flimsy hospital gown, the Doctor looked even paler than he already was, dark circles under his closed eyes making his stressed face even more drawnn

Amy held a hand over her mouth as Rory and Drew stepped back, the time lord looked terrible...

xxx

xx

xxx

It was two days before the Doctor truly woke up, Gallifreyans reacted much slowly to anesthetics. Amy was by his bedside as long as visitor's hours permitted, River joining her once she'd been released. After waking, the Doctor had been groggy and drugged to fight the pain, kept barely conscious by the slight queasiness the blood transfusion was giving him. Humans didn't have match blood types for time lords, but Type O negative worked well enough to keep the Doctor stable.

By day five the Doctor was able to sit up with the lifted bed for most of the day, barely in any pain and coherent enough to have light conversations.

...

Amy and River had left close to nine pm, Rory held an eight to eight shift now, allowing him to be accessible to the Doctor at night on his rounds.

Rory slipped into the Doctor's shared room, the other patient was an open heart surgery recovery, currently waiting on his pacemaker to be synchronized and approved to allow him to go home.

"Evening Doctor, how are you feeling tonight?"

The time lord smiled a bit tiredly, worn out from Amy's bubble personality for most of the day. "Alright, shoulders were stiff but River fixed the pillows and that stopped."

Rory nodded, checking off things in a file before sitting on the edge of the bed before jumping up quickly.

"Sorry!"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, "What are you talking about? You sit there every night."

Rory was now the one confused, "You didn't catch what happened?"

"You sat down and jumped up for no reason."

Now the nurse was down right concerned, "Doctor, I sat on your leg..."

"What?"

Rory moved to the other side of the bed, easing it down for the Doctor to lie completely flat besides a slight pillow, "I'm going to perform a quick exam, on a scale of one to ten, give me a pain rating for every time you feel my hands."

"Right."

The nurse began pushing and pinching, listening for numbers or even a faint response from the time lord.

"Rory are you going to do it or what?"

"Oh no..."

"Rory?"

"Move your legs."

The panicked tone in the nurse's voice caught the Doctor's attention, idly thinking how odd humans were the Doctor made to flex his legs beneath the blanket and sheet.

"Doctor..."

"I am."

Rory sighed almost silently, meeting the time lord's concerned gaze as they realized why there was nothing.

The Doctor couldn't feel his legs.

He was paralyzed.

* * *

**I know people are reading! Will you PLEASE review? How else do I know if I'm writing the right kind of stuff?  
**

**Please! Thank you so much for reading!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Set after The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe but before Asylum of the Daleks**

* * *

**Ten  
**

**Amy+Arguing+Anger=Tears  
**

xxx

Rory, on the Doctor's request, hadn't told Amy or River anything, merely updating the medical file and going to talk with the supervising surgeon Dr. Smith. The Doctor had been administered a sleep aid, given the late hour, Amy would be by his side when he awoke, it was better that way.

xxx

River had gone searching for a decent cup of coffee as Amy munched a Jammy Dodger, the Doctor was slowly waking up from the sleep aid, sighing and flexing his hands in his sleep.

"If you don't wake up soon Doctor I'm going to eat all your treats."

At that the time lord groaned awake, yawning as he rubbed his eyes a little before smirking as Pond stood to sit on his bed next to him, setting the plate in his lap.

"Dr. Smith talked with Rory last night, looks like in another few days you will be able for release and can come home, River and I fixed up the guest room with stuff from the TARDIS, old girl finally unlocked last night and sent River to your room for stuff and I found this waiting."

The Doctor had been eating quietly, now he'd frozen, staring down at the blue plate and fingering the ceramic edge. Amy was fussing over the window blinds, they never opened but she'd still fight them everyday.

"Rory will switch to working his twice a day shifts when you come home, he wants to be able to help until your stitches come out to make sure the muscle damage healed, River tuned a few TARDIS controls last night, she wants your permission to take her to the moon and back to check on a few things, the TARDIS is getting antsy, can't seem to wait to run off on an adventure with you-"

_*SMASH!*Clang*CRACK!_*

Amy spun seconds after the Doctor had violently thrown the plate against the far wall, breaking the ceramic and scattering the cookies.

"Doctor! What is going on? Thought you'd like to know you can soon run out of-"

"Shut up Amy! That doesn't matter! Just be quiet!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"**_I can't feel my_ _legs!_**"

Amy stood in shock as the Doctor cracked, sobs shaking his upper body, it took her only a second to glance at his legs under the thick blankets, thin and unmoving as he broke down.

"Oh Doctor..."

Amy sat next to her friend, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, rocking him gently.

There was nothing to say, what could she? No words would change this...

xxx

xx

xxx

River and Amy spent the next two weeks fixing up Amy's downstairs storage room into a bed room, moving the shelves around and up to River's room so the Doctor had his own space, they also moved the living room furniture to allow a wheelchair to move easily.

Rory drove home silently, glancing at the far side mirror only when he had to, the Doctor was left in relative silence.

The nurse had been given a packet on exercises to strengthen the Doctor's arm and abdominal muscles to be able to fully use the self-propelling wheelchair. The time lord had been through mild physical therapy to select a comfortable style of chair, settling for the lightweight, folding, self-propelled model,the least dependent on anyone.

Turning a little farther to see the Doctor's reflection in the window, Rory sighed softly, dull depression had settled over the time lord, letting his mind clod with memories as Rory stopped the car outside the house. The Doctor didn't notice until Rory opened the passenger side door, making sure the time lord was ready before helping him into the wheelchair.

Amy held the front door open, smiling brightly and trying to stoke a conversation into life, earning not even a glance from the Doctor.

"Dad, I'll take it from here..."

xxx

Amy peeked in the Doctor's room after dinner that night, he hadn't eaten with them, or touched the food Rory had brought in on a tray. Currently the time lord lay on the bed, head tipped in sleep, but it wasn't peaceful, never peaceful...

xxx

"Is there anything we can do? Therapy or exercises?"

Rory shook his head, "Not unless the Doctor wants it first, he has to come to terms with this and make the first move-"

"Rory he's a time lord, a mad man with a box and right now stuck in bed because of us humans, he can't even sit still for more than a few minutes at a time, let alone be paralyzed!"

River sighed softly, both of her parents were right, nothing could truly be done right now.

Their argument escalated, getting louder and louder until neither noticed the other occupant of the room, River turned just enough to see the Doctor in his chair, stopped at the entryway to the kitchen, looking like he wanted to run away and knew he was trapped.

"Dammit Rory! I have to so something!"

"There's nothing you can do!"

She stood, ignoring the yelling that had fallen into nonsense before gently guiding her husband to the living room, sliding a foot stool next to the chair and leaned against the one man she could always trust...

"We'll get through this my love, mum just needs some time to adjust to everything."

The Doctor nodded a little, fingers combing through her hair slowly, like reassuring himself she was still there. River hummed softly eyes drifting shut as she played with the Doctor's 'human' clothes, sweatpants, socks, a t-shirt, and a hoodie, loose and comfortable.

"Want to watch a movie my love?"

xxx

xx

xxx

_USA, two weeks later_

xxx

He sighed as he watched the online news feeds, a shooting in Leadworth...the video from someone's phone showed the panic. And a close friend of his being knocked to the ground by the crowd.

At least that was better than being shot, trouble always managed to find his friend, no matter what he did to prevent it from happening, or the caution his friend instilled in their own actions.

A pair of screams echoed through the large and comfortable old hunting lodge, the owners yelling at the top of their lungs as a method of "Primal Scream Therapy", not that it worked but it was a stress reliever...

Their mother slammed a couple doors before finally finding them, yelling for the two to shut up before stomping back to her own room to sleep. The disadvantage of having the graveyard to early morning shift on the ER floor of a big city.

Thundering feet raced down the stairs from the upper deck of the lodge, holding old guest rooms, the master bed room, a few baths, and a library. Downstairs held all the action, contrary to prior belief.

One yelp pierced the relative quiet when the feet hit soft carpet, socks didn't mix with speed and hardwood floors, a second followed amidst a choked off laugh.

"Careful you two! I'm not explaining to your mother what happened this time!"

"Aye-aye Captain!"

Oh how right they are...

* * *

**Tada! Review please?  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Set after The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe but before Asylum of the Daleks**

**Review my lovely readers? Please...?**

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**Eleven  
**

**Adjustments+Time+Surprise=Amy's Birthday and an Abduction  
**

xxx

Adjustments took time, and while many mornings were sullen and depressed, the Pond household eventually worked around the difficulties. Including the Doctor in as many things as possible to prove he wasn't useless. The time lord still fighting with emotions...

Rory just hoped Amy's birthday gathering in a month would help...

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"...Happy Birthday...To yooooooou!"

Amy laughed as the singers finished off, tears blinking in her eyes as her family and friends clapped a cheered, noisemakers blowing loud and obnoxiously until Amy blew out the candle on her cake; after it was eaten the party would be done, food had been eaten and presents unwrapped, a happy evening. Rory smiled from next to her before standing on a chair, motioning for quiet.

"Now I'm sure everyone wants to hug and smother Amy with love or just bid of the first piece of cake , but there is one last gift that had to wait until later compared to the others. This is the only secret I've kept from Amy that is life-changing. And without further ado, my good friend John will come forward to give Amy her present."

Amy stared at Rory confused, not seeing the crow behind her splitting apart for John, Rory was smirking, he physically turned Amy around, letting her see the surprise.

The Doctor was leaning heavily on the arm braces, the loops loose around his forearms as his hands gripped the handles tightly.

But he was standing, walking, moving his legs...

"Doctor..."

"Happy Birthday Amy."

The red head squealed, hugging him tightly as he shifted to stay balanced with one brace, the other hand holding his friend just as hard.

"Why didn't either of you tell me?"

"Told you, it was a surprise!"

xxx

The Doctor's recovery had been top secret, Amy getting transferred to work in an office for a couple hours every day had greatly helped, Rory had been woken one morning after Amy left to River pounding on the door and the Doctor screaming from his legs cramping.

While they weren't fully functional or at full strength, the Doctor had improved really well over the last month, one of the luckier paralysis victims. Rory and River finally consented to let the Doctor back in the TARDIS, waiting until Amy's day off so they all could relax i the Police Box parked in the back yard.

At least until the TARDIS programmed herself and took off before anyone could touch the console.

"Not again!"

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River woke up first, after the TARDIS had dematerialized into the vortex, they had each blacked out, collapsing to the floor. Now, opening her heavy eyelids she was met with a soft green light scanning her.

At the light hitting her eyes she closed them, remaining still as the soft feel of the scan swept over her. The room was humming, steadier than the ever changing TARDIS, this was like an engine hum. She was warm, at a perfectly comfortable temperature, whatever she was lying on had her body held amazingly perfect, cushioning every joint correctly. The only things odd were the suction cups on her wrists that monitored her vitals. The jelly sort of stuff she was on seemed to feed and care for her without any conscious effort from her...good she hated catheters.

The scan completed itself, the scanner hovering away it sounded like. Risking a look, River opened her eyes, seeing a tiled ceiling, the pieces made of semi-transparent glass, some glowed at the right intensity to let her eyes adjust to being open. The walls were a soft blue and green, no...now they were yellow-green. Never mind, the colors shifted periodically to change the temperature, the "warmer" the color the warmer the room became.

River slowly lifted her head, finding her hair smoothed and combed out, not sticking to her neck as she glanced down at her body. She now wore a light t-shirt like top with cloth pants, similar to the pajama pants Mels had worn. Socks covered her feet as she sat up slowly, looking around at the rather small room.

Entirely empty except for her chair-like bed in the middle, the contraption on a low stand that shifted as she stood up, the suction cups' tubes extending from the ceiling as she walked around a little.

To the left and right of the chair were doors, simple sliding-solid doors that were dark green and purple. Walking around, the suction cups didn't leave her wrists, merely lessened their grip to allow better movements.

" 'Ello? Anyone listening?"

The door to her left opened, letting a humanoid alien in, skin a pale grey and eyes a sick yellow, clothed in a whitish robe.

"You are called River Song, yes?"

"Yes, who are you? Where are my friends? Where am I?"

"I am Seely-"

"Seely? What's that?"

"S.I.I.L.E. System Interfaced Informant Level Educator. I am the interpreter for any aboard the vessel with the inhabitants. I give necessary information to passengers."

River nodded, "Okay...who are the inhabitants?"

SIILE's form blinked, an electronic image, "The inhabitants are from the Planet Chloradatorem, of the system Kasborotous, the brother system to Kasterborous, the species is termed as _SantoreCaedisian_, the givers of the ten galaxies."

"Ten galaxies...brother system, okay so..what do they do, what _did_ they do...to me...to my friends?"

"The Sanotore give, their knowledge and gifts to others, on free peace, asking only for nothing."

"Give what?"

"Name species."

River narrowed her eyes, pacing around SIILE, "Which species?"

"Home."

"Human."

"The Sanotore give good being, good sleep, good blood, good breath-"

"Health? They're healers? That's what they do, heal?"

"Yes."

"Where are my friends?"

SIILE shifted electronically, becoming a virtual map for a moment to show River's room on a hallway, two between her and Rory's, Amy beside him, the Doctor however was on a different hallway, the quick glimpses looked identical to her room.

River stopped, a hand to her forehead as she sighed softly, "A vessel of healers...SIILE, where are the Sanotore? Why are you here instead of them?"

"Does not compute."

"Show me the Sanotore."

"Does not compute."

"Let me meet the Sanotore."

"Does not compute."

The woman sighed, tugging the suction cups off and stalking away as the tubes retracted, ignoring SIILE's blank stare and flickering form. If the aliens had healed her, why couldn't she even see an image? And why had they been taken to heal?

"SIILE, take me to my friends."

SIILE nodded compliantly, turning and "walking" out the left door, leading River down the hallway to Amy's room.

"This patient is next to awake, all have been gived. Good being, good sleep, good blood, goo-"

"Yes I know, enough!"

The interface nodded, vanishing as River entered Amy's room, the red-head just beginning to stir.

"Amy? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah..."

xxx

Over the next two days, the three humans woke and reunited, River repeating what SIILE had told her and the interface interjecting information as well, such as the fact that they each no had absolutely no scars.

"The Sanotore seem to be extremely dedicated to healing others, but secretive, no matter what we say or do we can not get a reaction from them."

River's summary of the past two days was the only thing spoken as the three walked the "c" shaped hallway, the two ends were the ship's outer walls, showing a myriad of stars but no planets or galaxies. SIILE had adapted Amy's room after Rory woke up, leaving the room with three hammock like beds for them to stay together. They still hadn't been taken to the Doctor.

That "night", a booming laugh from the hallway woke them, the soft light in the corridor revealing a creature that appeared to be a cross between a Silurian and a Malmooth, white lab robes covering most of the male, judging by the body structure.

"Sa-look here, I am Pericu-sa-lum...humans I see, patients aboard the vesse-sa-l..You fee-sa-l better? Good hea-sa-lth?"

River immediately stepped forward, "You are a Sanotore?"

"Many names, that is one."

"Why did you take us from our vessel, where is our last friend?"

"Vesse-sa-l ca-sa-lled my own, me give to you and friends, give good being."

"Yes, but why? Where is my other friend?"

"We give."

River rolled her eyes, "Where. Is. My. Friend?"

Periculum smirked, or at least it appeared that way, disappearing through a door at the center of the "c" hallway.

Rory and Amy banged on the door, yelling for him to come back and threatening SIILE to open the door for them.

SIILE did come to their aid, only this time stepping from a wall panel as a nanotech form, a physical computer image. SIILE stepped froward, before injecting them with a sedative.

The last thing River saw was Periculum stepping from the open door, the lab room behind it containing a drugged and restrained Doctor before she blacked out.

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**Twist huh? Yes this is fast but it jumps me forward since I had a great idea to bring in new characters.  
**

**SIILE is pronounced "See-Lee" All one word.**

**Review please? Please?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't, my mind maybe be as crazy as the doctor's, but not crazy enough to come up with him.**

**Summary: 144 Chapters, somewhat follows a plot, the first two are drabbles to establish the beginning. A bit AU, starts after Amy and Rory get married.  
**_"Talk" _is Gallifreyan

:..._talk._..: The TARDIS words electronic voice or on monitor.

**Set after The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe but before Asylum of the Daleks**

**Review my lovely readers? Please...?**

* * *

**Twelve  
**

**Chlora+Sanotore=Periculum  
**

xxx

Periculum made the final adjustments to his procedure, leaning back in his chair as the screen calibrated his changes and began to initiate the results.

This would be the best one yet.

xxx

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This time, Rory woke first, in the middle of three chair things, they were restrained and sedated, at least the women were, he was being checked over by the nanotech SIILE.

"SIILE deactive."

The interface did as told, the nano beads dissolving into the floor panels as Rory stood up, leaving the room to find himself directly across from the one he'd seen the Doctor through. This time Periculum was no where in site as the door opened for the nurse.

The center room was a lab, screens, charts, test tubes, beakers, you name it...it was in there. The Doctor was at the center, unconscious on a blue gel covered chair, a white sheet covering his pale form.

Rory gently checked him over, finding everything normal besides a blood catheter to take samples, it also attached to an IV that fed minerals the gel could not provide for the time lord.

Beeping as the door opened warned Rory to the Sanotore's return, urging him to duck in between a pair of shelves. Periculum came forward and adjusted something on the Doctor's chair, rousing the time lord.

"Mm...stop this...please..."

Periculum ignored the slurred pleas, having heard them...probably for as long as they'd been here, Rory had no idea. Seeming to tweak a scanner orb hanging on a brace above the Doctor, the Sanotore removed the sheet and then anything connected to the Doctor besides the restraints.

"Subject 289, species 1, Patient #4, Testing on reconversion to past state of condition has sa-led to final procedure of fusall conversion, sa-large scale triasa-l runs were not deemed needed."

The Doctor had been hazily looking around slightly, but now stared in shock struggling against the holds before Periculum strapped a gag on him and stepping away, remotely activating the orb.

The responding buzzing led to the Doctor screaming in agony through the gag, and Rory could do nothing about it.

Writhing against the restraints the Doctor's skin began to glow, only increasing his fevered thrashing until the glow became regeneration energy and huddled like a cloud around the alien.

Rory pressed his fist to his mouth to keep from screaming out as the energy boiled in the air before rapidly retreating back into the Doctor, doing the opposite of regenerating...going backwards...

The gag snapped off as Periculum chucked in amusement, his delight intensifying at the Doctor's agonized screams, the happy-go-lucky voice Rory had come to know so well changing and deepening slightly, a heavier accent tone coming into the vocal sounds as this form tore the Doctor's slim frame apart and morphed into another body.

This body was taller, very thin and gangly. Dark hair sticking up wildly on the fever-flushed head, as the man screamed, eyes clenching shut in pain. Periculum watched with glee throughout the entire process, smiling widely as the Doctor ceased screaming, coughing hoarsely before panting heavily, trying to calm his erratic breathing.

Before he could move forward to examine the results, the Sanotore was abruptly startled by the sound of rapid gunfire, followed by a huge explosion that sent off a loud myriad of alarms throughout the ship.

"No...No!"

Rory lunged to the Doctor's side the second the Sanotore was gone, yanking on the restraints that were meant to hold a shorter man. This version of the Doctor groaned deeply as he stirred from his pained daze, meeting Rory's gaze before going completely limp.

The nurse didn't bother trying to wake him, merely picking him up bridal style, sighing at how light his body was. Smoke was beginning to fill the lab and the hallways as he headed out, moving randomly until seeing River shooting at a masked Sanotore, dropping the alien before facing him.

"This way!"

Amy was already at the TARDIS tucked into a storage room, she was shooting at...something..Rory couldn't tell from how far away she was. River sprinted ahead to get the TARDIS ready to take off the second the door was shut, Amy following her when a shot singed the blue painted wood near her head.

Rory moved slower, not wanting to jar the weak Doctor or get either of them shot, whoever had infiltrated the vessel to attack the Sanotore were on one wide of the room, the "healer" aliens on the other. Guess who was trying to run through the middle.

"Go! Now! I've got you covered!"

The nurse turned long enough to see the fighter fir off several rounds as the man moved to shield Rory and the Doctor.

"What are you doing here?!"

"What does it look like? Getting shot at! Now move it! The coordinates are already in the TARDIS. Just hit GO!"

Rory did as told, gripping the Doctor tighter as he started to wake once more, their shield stopped partway to the TARDIS, allowing them to go forward safely.

The last thing he heard of that shift was a yell at his protector before an explosion.

"Captain! Get Outta there!"

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**Why oh why does writer's block plague me so!?**

**Review please?  
**


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